U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 describes in detail a connector receptacle of a type which is intended for use in the telephone industry. The receptacle described in this patent comprises an insulating housing having a plug receiving end and a plug-receiving opening extending into the plug-receiving end. A plurality of circular openings extend through the housing from the plug-receiving end to the rearward end of the housing and contact springs extending from these circular openings diagonally into the plug-receiving opening so that when a plug is inserted into the receptacle, the contact members on the plug will engage the contact springs. The contact springs are in the form of wires and are connected by means of crimped electrical connections to lead wires. These crimped connections are contained in the circular openings in the housing and the lead wires extend from the circular openings and away from the housing at the rearward end thereof. The commonly used type of connector plug which is intended to be mated with connector receptacles of the type described above is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,320.
The connector receptable described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 has been widely adopted in the telephone industry and it is being used to an increasing extent on equipment other than telephone equipment, for example, data processing which may be installed adjacent to a telephone exchange, small computers, and similar equipment. The use of these connector receptacles in such related equipment often requires that the receptacle be mounted on a circuit board, but the connector receptacle shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 cannot be readily or easily connected to conductors on a circuit board.
Application Ser. No. 940,536 discloses and claims a connector receptacle of the general class which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497, and which is dimensioned to receive a connector plug as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,320. The receptacle disclosed in Application Ser. No. 940,536 has stamped and formed electrical conductors therein rather than the wire type conductors of U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 and one end of each stamped and formed conductor extends beyond the housing of the connector so that the connector can be mounted on a circuit board with the ends of the conductors extending into openings in the circuit board. These ends of the conductors can then be soldered to conductors on the circuit board in the usual manner. The stamped and formed conductors shown in Application Ser. No. 940,536 are assembled to the connector housing by insertion of intermediate portions of the conductors into side-by-side depressions or channels in one of the external sidewalls of the housing. One end of each conductor is reversely bent so that it extends into the plug-receiving opening and these ends serve as contact springs which are contacted by contact members in an inserted plug.
It would be desirable under some circumstances to have the intermediate portions of the conductors completely enclosed in the housing rather than inserted into channels in the external surface of the housing. The inserted conductors are highly satisfactory for many circumstances of use but there are some circumstances where enclosed connectors would be preferred in order to achieve improved dielectric characteristics and to protect the conductors from the atmosphere or from foreign matter such as dust particles. There are also circumstances under which it would be desirable to provide non-current carrying metallic posts in the external sidewall of the housing for soldering to metallized surface portions of the circuit board in order to permit mounting of the housing on the circuit board securely independently of the mechanical connection which is achieved by the soldered conductors. This requirement exists in critical applications and/or when the receptacle is mounted on a circuit board under circumstances such that the housing might be subjected to abusive handling.
The present invention is directed to the achievement of a connector receptacle of the general class described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 which all satisfy the requirements of completely enclosed conductors in the housing and metallic mounting posts for securing the housing to the circuit board. The invention is also directed to the achievement of an improved manufacturing process for producing receptacles which satisfy these same requirements.
A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises an insulating housing having side-by-side conductors insert-molded in wall portions of the housing, the wall portions being between one of the internal sidewalls of the plug-receiving opening and the adjacent external sidewall. First end portions of the conductors emerge from the internal sidewall at a location adjacent to the plug-receiving end of the housing, extend diagonally into the opening, and serve as contact springs. The other ends of the conductors emerge from the adjacent external sidewall and may extend normally from this sidewall or normally from the rearward end of the housing depending upon the intended orientation of the housing on a circuit board. Metallic mounting posts are also imbedded in the housing and extend from the adjacent external sidewall at locations proximate to the external endwalls so that the ends of the conductors are between the mounting posts. When the housing is mounted on a circuit board with the ends of the conductors soldered to conductors on the circuit board and with the ends of the mounting posts soldered to metallized (but non-current carrying) areas on the circuit board, the mounting posts serve to protect the soldered conductors against lateral forces which might be otherwise transmitted to the soldered conductors when the housing is subjected to applied external forces, as by handling or otherwise.
The connector receptacle is manufactured by producing a continuous strip comprising spaced-apart carrier strips and transversely extending conductors and mounting post blanks at regularly spaced intervals. This strip is continuous fed into a forming press in which the conductors and the mounting posts are formed by forming dies into their final shape. The strip is then fed from the forming press into an injection molding apparatus in which the housing is molded onto the strip so that a continuous strip of housings is produced by the molding apparatus. The individual housings may be severed from this strip or the housings may be maintained in strip form in order to facilitate further processing such as insertion by automatic machinery into circuit boards.